Opening of Railway Hotel. \ PLEASANT SMOKE SOCIAL. AT TOOHA. No greater compliment could have been paid to Mr-Webb Simmons than that which was tendered to him on Thursday evening last, when at his invitation about 100 representative residents attended a smoke social to celebrate the opening of his new hotel. Just over two years ago Mr Sintmons purchased the' hotel from Mr F. Blanc, and later on took over the management. About nine months ago the old hotel was des troyed by lire, and out of the ashes lias risen Phmnix like, a new build ing with all modern improvements. It contains 32 rooms, including bar, commercial room, billiard par lor, card room, special sitting room, bathrooms, dining rooms, and spac ious halls and passages. The fur niture is polished satinwood, and a very artistic appearance is present ed. The color scheme all through the hotel is cream, white, and gold, and credit is due to Mr Simmons for the artistic tas'e displayed in the choice of the colorings. The effect ...

Mount Best. [kIIOM OUI! CO lUlESrOMiES'T."] Tlio many friends of Mr Garrett Scanneil will be sorry to hear that hfr was taken ill while working out in v paddock recently. Fortunately, help was near, but considering be is such &amp; heavy man it was 110 light tusk lo get him lioino. llo has boon conlined to his bed since, but the latest reports are to the effect that he is progressing, satisfactorily. A largely attended meeting of rate payers was held in the local hall oil Saturday evening last, the object being to discuss road matters, ilr Jolin .Scannell was appointed chair man. After a lengthy discussion feveral motions were passed] one o£ which was to the effect that the coun cil be urged to spend main road main tenance money on metalling the lower portion of Scannell's hill, and a fur ther motion requesting .l.o couuoil to liave the road machine pi.fc on tlmti piece of road between the) all and Alt.^ Fatigue.

HAWAII. I Servants in the Sandwich Islands | have a curious liafoir. says a lady i writer, of cnlliiu their employers by j (heir first, names. Hers, she adds, I was always s.-tidk. "Yes, Jolin," to I her husband, and "Very well, Mary," | to her. i When we got a new cool; T told my , husband to avoid calling me ".Mary," ; so that the cook, not knowing my nam.', would have lo say ."missus" to iite. So John always railed me "sweet hi-art" or "deary," never Mary. tine day we have some officers to din ner. and I told them of the rule I had id.'ptcd, and added. "My this servant, if least, ion won't hear me called Mary." ?lust then the new cook entered the room. He bowed, and said lo me, ".Sweetheart, the dinner is served." "U'hat?" 1 stammered, aghast at his familiarity. "Dinner is served, deary," answered the new cook. Lawyer: What Is your occupation? Witness. I am a piano finisher. Lawyer: Bo a little more definite. Do you polish them or moyo tliem? The small boy was being reproved by h...

Toora Progress Association A well-attended meeting of the above was held :tL the Mechanics hull on Tuesday avening, piesided over by Mr \V. E. Wiivmii-. l.'OltKV.srnN-pKNCK. P.M.G's. Hepaitinent in reply to the application for additional mail, also from -Mr Helmet t in regard to same matter, stilting that he would by in the district about the middle of August, and would enquire into the uwticv. From A. K. T Sai'ibell, Melbourne, stating tliat le was prepal ed to under lake, the .survey of the water scheme, stating that he considered it could be t done. at. a low cost, and that payment could be made, when loan is made available. From .Mr T. Livingston, in reply to letter of congratulation on his appoint ment as Minister of Education. Fiom National Park Committee re a deputation meeting them at show time in regard to tlio Government chalet 'at Mount Singapore, stating the committee would l>e pleased to meet delegates, if n date is arranged. Public Health Dept. re public vac cinator...

STUMBLING HORSES. Some horses are naturally addicted to stumbling, others acquire tlie fault, and still others liave the stumbling habit thrust upon them, says an ex change. In the Mist. it is almost in curable, but the second ami third causes ran bo remedied by the rider or driver. Tt" the ground is rough or uneven, horses with low action are prone to stumble. Other horses which are naturally slipshod, generally stum ble because they do not lirt their feet high enough from tile ground. Lazi ness is another cause for stumbling, and horses that are heavy in front, or whoso forelegs are weak or un sound, have the same fault Very of ten carelessness on the part of tile driver causes a horse to stumble. This makes it necessary always to bear in mind the value of keeping horses well in hand and sufficiently collected. If the habit is due to laziness, it can of ten be cured by riding or driving the horse over rough ground until he has been broken of the fault. But in all j rases the cure ...

Federal Elections. SENATOR M'COLL AT FOSTER. A large eiowd assembled at the Foster mechanics' hall on Tuesday ev&amp;lt;;ninp^ hist when oenator J. H. M'Coll addressed tin; electots. Mr. W. K. Jackson occupied tho cliair and brie/iy introduced l-lie candidate who, , on rising to speal;, was warmly ro ucived. Mr. M'Coll said ho was present that evening on behalf of himself and his 1 live colleagues, one o£ whom-Mr ; M'Lean - was practically a colt of the team, but he was doing his trial to the I satisfaction of all. Mr M ' Lean's father the late Hon. Allan M'L'-an, was one of the best politicians ever Victoria hud, and if his son followed the politi cal career of his father ho would prove of value to the Uovei nment. In Aus tralia they had on the full Sept. to de cide whether the country was to be ruled under tho broad principles of Liberalism which has built up all tho splendid institutions ; or whether we would try the tortuous road of social ism, which had always led to destru...

WEAR BECOMING COLONS. It Is not every woman who under stands the art and necessity of har monisin:; colors. She is apt to be .swayed too much by the decrees of fashion when selecting shades for a new hat or dress, and the result, more often than not, is .ureat contrasts, which accentuate instead of hide de fects of the face and figure. The woman who desires to loo!: her best must, select only those colors which will be helpful to he:-. Women differ so much in l'onn a;.d coloring that, each m'.tst. be a law unto her self. There is the fair and florid woman, the thin and sallow woman. Another type is neither stout nor thin, per haps, but colorless and faded, a strik ing contrast to the highly-colored dark woman, whose pink cheeks have changed to a dull red. Taking the fair and florid, a type generally inclined toward obesity, she may be said to be fairly safe if she will adopt dark colors or shades below the bust-line, and select those near her face with a view to becomlngness. Pale b...

| THE SICK MAN'AN0 HIS FRIENDS. 1 I First Friend: Feeling run down, eh? j Now, take my advice-tie boiled ! onion betweer yaur eyes; it's lie only ! tiling that will cure you. i Second Friend: My boy, what you want to do is to put a cold poker down your back under your shirt-and paint your arm with lampblack-it's the only remedy that's any good. Third Friend: Oh, I know what's wrong, my boy. My mother said that sunflowers tied around the waist and a lump of lard on the head were the best things in the world for it. Fourth Friend: In all my experience 1 never knew banana rinds tied around tli" knee to fail to cure. "Wife: Yes, John, dear, ail these tilings may be good, but there's noth ing like this tonic my grandmother used to make of vinegar, sulphur, ben zine, sugar, zinc rust, and cobwebs. Now take some, darling. He has tried them all, and is still uncurod.

Her Last Drive. A contretemps looked like arising at a funeral the other day in a rural district. It was the wife of an elder ly farmer who had died, and just as the cortege was about to leave the house for the church, both mourners and the undertaker's men were, to say the least, startled by seeing the widower-a sturdy type of a farmer- . mount the box-seat of the hearse, and gather up the relns. His friends went and told him to eomo down and take his seat in one of the mourning-coaches. ' "No, no," replied the lic!&amp;lt;> old fel low; and jerking his thumb in the di rection of the cofflu, added: "She never would let anyone drive her but im\ and this is the last time she will have the chance." And drive he did, all entreatie? and .emonstrances being in vain. Gentleman (in railway train): How (lid this accidcnt happen? GmuTi: Someone pulled the cord and stopped the train, and the boat ex press ran into us. It will take five hours to clear the line for us to go ahead. Gentle...

COUGH GENTLY. Few people know how to cough pro perly. It never occurs :o the ordin ary individual that there is a right way and a wrong way of doing it. Yet it is a matter of no small import ance. if every sigh means a drop of blood out of the heart, as people say, every cough means some greater or less proportion of time knocked off one's life. Most people cough as loud ly and forcibly as they can. But it is lather costly noise, for the single reason that ii tears and inflames the lungs. The lungs consist of an extra ordinary delicate sponge-like tissue, which sometimes gets inflamed and choked with phlegm. When we try to get rid of this substance we cough. But obviously, if we remove it vio lently, wc must necessarily injure the delicate lung tissue. Therefore train yourself to cough as gently as pos sible.